Modding a cheap 1x12" cab

[deeaa*]

A while back I bought a Harley Benton 1x12" cab for peanuts, with intention to build me a smaller cab than my 4x12" in case I need portablity. And for fun :-)

Anyway, now it's finished. It took me quite a while testing a couple of speakers (a coupla Celestions, Jensen) and open/closed etc.

I had the aim to make the cab sound as much as my 4x12" as possible. Initially I tried it open-backed as it came, because I figured a small 1x12" would maybe sound small closed.

Well, to cut a long story short I ended up closing up the cab and using a Celestion V30 in it. With the V30, which is a kind of a cold sounding speaker, it has a similarly open top end as 4x12". The thing it lacks most is bottom thump obviously, but some more bass on amp helps well. And when closed, there's even a nice punch to it. I have two reflex openings in the front and ended up stuffing the cab with a pillow.

It sounds quite surprisingly similar to the 4x12" except there isn't a feel of 'reverb' nearly as much as with a big cab. The low end is 'smaller' and more twangey, and the drives have more clarity and bite which is not necessarily a good thing, but not bad.

Surprisingly higher gains however sound better even; when I kick boost on it really gives much more boost, with the 4x12" the difference is much less. So the 1x12" might help cut thru better in band playing - I can only tell after next practice.

All in all it turned out quite a nice cab indeed, and despite I have never liked V30's so much, it is quite good. A tad cold/lifeless maybe, but tight and clear.

I still have to experiment more with closing and opening the front 'reflex' holes but all in all I'm pretty damned happy with it. I have a feeling it will sound great miked up close and thus give me a very portable head/cab combo now.

[Tig***]

Good info that helps me with the near future upgrade of my 1x12 closed back cabinet. How large are these reflex holes?

[deeaa*]

They are 2,5" I suppose. I just played the cab for a while testing the new Vox pedal I posted about...it's still too bright overall. Need to figure out ways to lose the top end some.